'Suits' Recap and Review: 'Sucker Punch' (2.07)

An interesting thing happened while I was watching this week's ​Suits​: I realized that I knew what was going to happen and that I didn't care, because I was so invested in what was going on that the experience of it was what mattered. Here's a show where predictability isn't a sign of weakness, but a position of strength because the characters and storylines are intriguing enough to keep us thinking about them, talking about them, and wanting to figure them out.

From the jump, Harvey is at the throat of Travis Tanner (Eric Close), whose idea of a deposition is to take every low shot he can think of, including insulting Harvey's mother. This leads to Harvey doing the one thing I've wanted to do all season: punching Tanner in the face. Determined to destroy Tanner, Harvey and Jessica decide to put together a practice trial in preparation for the real one, with Louis in the antagonist role and Mike unwillingly drafted to help him.

Harvey asks Zoe Lawford (Jacinda Barrett), who previously resigned from Pearson Hardman, for her assistance as a jury consultant. He also tracks down Donna, who's a little bitter that he didn't fight harder for her or at least fire her himself. It's legitimately upsetting to see the show's strongest relationship crumble, but at the same time it's perfectly understandable, because not only does Donna have a point, she also mentions that Harvey hasn't called her since she was fired. There's a chip on her shoulder that should absolutely be there.

One could argue there was nothing Harvey could've done to save Donna's position with the firm, but we only have to ask ourselves how we'd feel if we were fired and the person we were trying to protect couldn't even call us themselves. That's one big slap in the face that Donna didn't deserve, and she, Harvey and the audience all know that. Much like the earlier confrontation between Donna and Harvey in the Pearson Hardman bathroom, it's another scene that could not have been played by anyone else.

From that moment on, everything in the show is fair game. There's Mike getting polygraphed by Louis and hesitating when he's asked where he went to law school, because he knows it's a lie. Emboldened by that confrontation, Mike dares to approach Donna and have a less-than-friendly chat with her about why she needs to come in for the trial, which is something he absolutely would not have done last season. Louis calls Jessica to the faux-witness stand, exposing her to potential embarrassment in front of the firm's partners, who are acting as the jury. He then tears into Donna, asking her point-blank if she's in love with Harvey before she leaves humiliated. (The lack of a definitive answer will give fans even more to chew on as we speculate.)